Superdave, you and I are on the same page. I too raised three daughters. There were many problems that all parents face. None of them ended up on anti-depressants. Megan’s problems started long before Lori Drew came into the picture. Her parents never taught her to respect life and that there would be problems to deal with. This whole thing is a mess. Lori Drew is not normal by any stretch of the imagination. Neither is Tina Meier or her husband. As I said in an earlier post. In the beginning of all this, it was reported by the new media that Tina Meier had opened a My Space account for her after her daughter was ban from the site. I don’t remember the specifics but I will go back and try to find it. All parties involved are responsible for this. In today’s world, everyone is looking for an excuse to blame someone else for their own actions.

My brothers first wife acussed him everyday of being unfaithful………..all the while she was cheating.

the morel of the stoy is sometime we deflect the bame on others so we don’t seem so obviouse hmmmmmm

Should Lori Drew be indicted? Yes.

As to the “law”, there is case law where other Mothers have done similar things and even more horrible and have been held responsible. Try the infamous Texas Cheerleader’s Mom case from a while ago.

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death for teens. One should not treat teens (especially 13 year olds) as if they are adults, they are not physically, biologically or psychologically.

To those “concerned” people who are blaming Meagan’s parents for lack of supervision and her suicide — just remember they were not the one’s who created the account, authored a false personality, established a bogus relationship, then through the use of these items abused and demeaned a 13 year old girl.

Should they have been snooping on her accounts? Of course. But try that with your teen and see what happens.

Definitely, she is responsible for Megan’s death. This was child abuse. This was disgusting, irresponsible behavior. She knew that Megan had some problems, she knew everything about Megan’s problems, not to mention how emotional and fragile all teens are. For those who don’t agree, think of this, this is worse than if she fed a peanut butter sandwich to a child with severe peanut allergies. I truly hope she serves many years. They must send a message that you can not get away with using the internet to hurt someone. An adult especially, should absolutely know better and needs to be held responsible. I want to know if charges can be brought against her from the boy whose picture she fraudulently used. I’d like to hear about that also. God bless Megan.

Truly Amazing!

When comments such as RHarnack and lamkp appear on here I know why now we have such a mess on our hands. Research and evidence does not matter to people like them. However, it sure feels good though. First off, the Texas Cheerleader case is like comparing apples and screwdrivers. Either you have no logic skills or you no idea what the facts were. Try looking the facts. Explaining logic to you just might be above your head anyway.

As far as that ridiculous analogy about peanut silliness then I guess when Tina Meier signed Megan up for Myspace even though Megan was too you then I will use your comparison. That would be Megan had a peanut allergy so Tina Meier drove her to the peanut farm and dropped her off for Megan to fend for herself. How ridiculous does that sound?

Tina Meier and her husband are the first ones in line for child abuse charges in my book. If I was either one of them, I think I would go hide somewhere in shame for the pitiful things I had done to harm Megan.

I find it pathetic though that you are making excuses and feeling sorry for these people. The poor girl had many issues long before Lori Drew got involved. Was that Lori Drew’s fault too? There is one constant in the story of Megan during all her troubles and that was her parents. They didn’t do their job and now they are blaming everyone else.

No wonder we have 3 fools running for President.

For those of you who derive satisfaction with the decision to charge L. Drew …know this…Im quite sure as she is that much of NOTHING will come from these charges…Just a lot of money wasted and time.
This is just the first step in our future,..a future where we have NO FREEDOM OF ANONYMITY. Technologies exist today that can HELP..(and I say help ..because I feel its a nearly impossible task)to ID users of EVERY network or website. These companies mking and selling these technologies are licking their chops as we speak.
And as is usually the case when we lose our freedoms …It will be done under the guise of protection for our children. Well thank you very much …But I dont need anyone to help me do my job as a parent ( which I have 2 teenage daughters)..Maybe other parents could try doing their jobs and this whole issue would be a moot point.

As a parent before all of this played out, could you have known that someone would protray a 14 year old boy. Myspace should be used a social networking site. Allowing access to minors should be taken with caution. While I won’t let my 13 year old have an account doesn’t mean every 13 year shouldn’t that is for the parent to decide. This parent chose to and allowed for her child to add friends. I read in a previous article that before friends could be added Tina (the mother) had to approve in which she said he seemed innocent enough. There was no reason to question that the acts of this website to be malicious and would cause her daughter so much harm. Potentially she should have read the messages but at some point you must trust your child. You should not assume that someone has with intent created a fake site to her your child nor at the time was there ever evidence of that till the end.

Some children have emotional problems and the best thing you can do for them is to take them to get help. Either that be through some type of doctor visits, medicine, whatever approach. If a medicine had side effects that help this diagnosed that is not lack of parenting. Sometimes there is simpily nothing you can do to help.

Suggesting blame without all the facts is wrong. Every parent out there has made mistakes and has lacked some better judgement at some point. To suggest that anyone on here or out in the world hasn’t make a mistake as a parent is not even believable.

For those makes accusations about the Meier’s appearance and lack of grief, if your like me you probably heard about this incident within the past six months which means these parents had a year or better to grieve over the loss of their daughter. The idea that they are in this for money is a silly notion, they have lost a love one and are most likely devastated and it isn’t usual for people in mourning often act in bizarre ways. If it were me I wouldn’t know where to turn, I would think that they have looked at themselves as being partly if no wholly to blame and they will most likely always be revisiting their role in this incident until they die.

To blame the Meiers based on your own good fortune of successfully raising children is wrong; raising children is an educated crapshoot. If everything falls into place you’re successful but if a few things don’t go your way all of your good efforts can become null and void and something like this can happen. Add to this the bad luck of trying to raise a child who is subject to depression your are in for a real rollercoaster of a ride, I have lived it myself and hopefully have gotten through, but this could have been my child just as easily as theirs if an outsider had ventured into our lives in this manner.

Megan suffered from depression and most likely she had ups and downs like any child, but when you have a child who suffers from depression the lows can get especially low and can happen in an instant not giving you time to react unless you never leave their side. Try as we may no parent can watch over their children 24/7 as much as you would like to. The teenage years are ones of exploration and learning to become an adult, in the midst of hormones and changing bodies and emotions which cloud everything, throw in depression and you get a very rough ride with an uncertain outcome. As a parent of a child with depression you do your best to raise them in as normal of an environment as you can, so you generally don’t announce their depression to people because you want them to judge your child based on generally misinformed preconceived notions. Raising any child is tough, raising a child with depression is a lot tougher, throw in an adult who starts playing with your child’s emotional wellbeing and you have a recipe for disaster.
What ever you may perceive as the faults of the Meiers they loved their daughter and did nothing intentional to contribute to her death, but ironically will wonder “what if” the rest of their lives.
As for me I am a staunch, conservative, republican and believe in traditional parent, so please don’t label me as a liberal for parenting from a different perspective.

Another Tom

Again….I just don’t belive you can cause another person to take their own life ultimitly if it is by ones own hand it is caused by that person,regardless of what others do or say…I can’t blame you for what I eat if that makes any sence…..

Tom, you seem like a nice guy and I too am a staunch conservative. However, our politics has nothing to do with this. Except, I find you making excuses for the people with the most power, which are the Meiers. Are you telling me that you would allow your daughter to get onto Myspace when is was illegal to do so. Are you telling me that you would lie to allow your daughter access to things that she is not capable of handling especially considering the circumstances? Are you telling me that if your daughter is having depression issues that you would not spend extra time to work through this. Something tells me that you would.

The Meiers did not act responsibly. We have to stop making excuses for bad behavior. I love my kids very much but sometimes they won’t like me for the decisions I must make for them. Does it bother me? Sometimes it does. However, that’s my problem. I still have a job as a parent and many times I lose the popularity contest but that’s not what I am here for.

This subject is near and dear to me. I used to coach and I found so many parents who failed miserably at parenting their own children. They expected me to do their job. Of course when I did correct them then I was accused of being mean to their child and I assure you nothing could be farther from the truth. People make mistakes as I have but taking responsibility for those mistakes is not happening here. What really bothers me is Tina Meier was out there giving lectures at schools. Oh Please, give me a break.

Here is the bottom line with Lori Drew. What if the person bothering Megan was her age or even younger. I assure you there are many kids out there that can do it. I would bet you it’s happened many times and quite possible that bad results happened. My wife can tell you because she knows due to the fact she is a teacher. Lori Drew is quite guilty of immoral behavior but not even close to forcing that poor girl to go hang herself. Any serious person has to admit that Megan already had issues. Her parents had ultimate contol and not only did little but signed her up. Pitiful!